He felt regretful and planned to give up finding Annette that day, but the receptionist continued to enthusiastically recommend other Diviners from the Prophet Association to Xia De.
The Detective, holding Mia, thought for a moment. If he turned and left now, his behavior would seem strange and might lead to rumors about Annette spreading within the Prophet Association. So, he pretended to be indifferent and nodded:
"Of course, no problem. I just want a reliable Diviner to tell my fortune. It doesn't matter who it is... I have Prophet Association membership. Can the price of the divination be cheaper?"
Perhaps because she was so comfortable in Xia De's arms, Mia was actually asleep at this moment. This was Mia's nap time; her life was much more leisurely than Xia De's.
The Prophet Association's receptionist recommended a female Diviner who was said to be very accurate. However, just as Xia De was about to go to the second floor, he happened to run into Vice President Mark, who was coming down the stairs.
The two were acquaintances, and after exchanging pleasantries, Vice President Mark, upon learning that Xia De had come to the Prophet Association for a divination, enthusiastically recommended another Diviner to him, and without any extra charge:
"Mr. Hamilton, although the Prophet Association's rhode cards business has grown larger and larger in recent years, divination is still the Prophet Association's most fundamental business. You are very lucky; the Prophet Association's most accurate Prophet is here today. Come with me, I'll introduce you."
Saying this, he gestured for Xia De to go upstairs. Xia De followed behind the man, who always seemed to be wearing a formal suit, and asked curiously:
"Who is that Diviner?"
"Our President, Mr. Stan. He just returned this morning. Ha, Mr. Hamilton, I must say you are very lucky."
Xia De subconsciously stopped but quickly caught up. Annette had said that the characteristic of being "outside of destiny" could not be discovered by divination alone; she had paid a price for a divination to understand this. Even the Dean of Saint Byron's Astronomical Academy could not discover Xia De's special nature through divination, so he had nothing to worry about this time.
What's more, there was no harm in getting to know more people; he had no reason to refuse.
The two arrived on the third floor, but they only walked past the door with the golden nameplate "President's Office" and finally stopped in front of the door with the "Accounting Office" nameplate.
Xia De did not enter such a sensitive place; Mr. Mark went in to find someone.
The discussion inside was very lively, roughly meaning that if the accounts were not right, everyone could go begging on the street together. Then there was mutual buck-passing, claiming that the accounts didn't match because the invoices for the initial preparatory work of the Great City Player had not yet been collected, and that by autumn, the accounts for the first half of the year would definitely be finalized.
The voice of Mr. Stan, the branch President of the Tobesk City Prophet Association, was the loudest among them. He was clearly threatening some of the obviously problematic individuals and was very familiar with these financial figures.
Soon, Vice President Mark informed him that a guest had arrived, and Xia De finally met the gentleman who had just returned to Tobesk City.
Mr. Stan was about the same height as Xia De but slightly thinner, with a prominent nose and deep-set eyes. His demeanor was very much like that of a university professor. He wore a pair of small gold-rimmed glasses on his face, making him the first acquaintance Xia De had met in this world who wore glasses.
"This is Mr. Hamilton? Hello, it's an honor to invite you to this autumn's..."
Mr. Stan smiled and extended his hand to shake Xia De's, and the moment their hands touched, Xia De heard a voice in his ear:
"Ring術士, quite high level."
"As expected."
"Great City Player rhode cards tournament. You want a divination? Of course, no problem. This way, please. Before I was President, I was always the most excellent Diviner of the Tobesk branch."
He boasted about himself with some pride, and Xia De smiled in agreement, actually looking forward to whether this cheap divination could give him some new insights.
To demonstrate professionalism, divination naturally required a dedicated room. The many idle rooms on the second floor of the Prophet Association, which could be rented out as reception rooms, were actually divination rooms.
Mr. Mark left first, and the local Prophet Association's President entered the second-floor room with Xia De. The room's layout was similar to a regular reception room, except that on the shelves against the wall, there were strange items like crystal balls and obsidian basins.
The servants were preparing tea, and Mr. Stan, seeing Xia De look at the shelves, casually introduced:
"The items there are all decorations; every Diviner has their preferred tools. Decades ago, the Prophet Association's divination business started to decline, while the rhode cards business got better and better. But it has improved in recent years; those impulsive young people and idle Noblewomen are very interested in this not-so-dangerous mysterious activity."
"What are dangerous mysterious activities?"
Xia De asked. Mia was probably woken by the sound of talking, but after a dreamy "meow," she comfortably fell back asleep. The maids tidying the room and preparing tea were all secretly looking at the cat held by the young man; a young orange cat was indeed very endearing... especially when it was asleep.
Mr. Stan gestured for Xia De to sit down and counted on his fingers as he answered Xia De's question:
"Dangerous haunted house explorations, spiritualist methods obtained from unknown sources, staying in a cemetery at night, reading strange occult books... These things are quite a headache for the Orthodox Church, but people with nothing to do after a meal love to do them."
He shook his head and sighed. Xia De, however, had some thoughts on this:
"Mr. Stan, you see, the great development of steam industry has led to the emergence of a new wealthy class, but the corresponding entertainment methods have not kept up, which has caused these rich but idle people to do such strange things. This should be considered an imbalance between the level of productivity and spiritual construction."
The President looked at him with some surprise and strongly agreed with this view:
"Exactly. So, compared to those dangerous activities, isn't it safer to encourage people to participate more in rhode cards competitions? Or to come to a legitimate Prophet Association like ours for divination, where noble ladies can discuss astrology, and talk about the connection between palm lines and future fortune? Such activities are not dangerous at all."
After the servants left, the two formally began the divination.
Although Xia De was not worried that rash divination would expose his Ring術士 identity, safety came first. Therefore, the divination he proposed was completely unrelated to himself:
"It's like this, I recently received a somewhat troublesome commission regarding inheritance and legal consultation. To protect the client, specific information is not convenient to disclose. Coming here for divination is not to get an immediate answer, but just to seek some vague guidance..."
He smiled awkwardly;
"Actually, I've always had doubts about the correctness of divination itself, please don't mind."
"No problem, that view is very common."
Mr. Stan waved his hand, then seriously asked:
"So, what specifically do you want to divine?"
"Can my client, Mrs. Lemeier, safely obtain a large sum of money in the near future?"
"Divining fortune related to money, no problem. Then, can you provide some information about The Lady, otherwise, I cannot divine."
Mr. Stan asked again.
Xia De wasn't really looking for an answer from here anyway, so he didn't hesitate much and described Mrs. Lemeier's identity and age information, as well as her financial situation.
Mr. Stan nodded in understanding, looked around, and finally brought the teacup in front of him:
"There are many ways to divine: pendulums, crystal balls, hydromancy, scapulimancy, etc. This time, how about we try the less common tea leaf divination."
He took some tea leaves from the tray, then closed his eyes and sprinkled them into the teacup. After all the tea leaves in his hand had fallen, he opened his eyes and looked at their floating state, then poured out the tea and observed the state of the tea leaves stuck to the bottom of the cup.
"That's it."
Mr. Stan put down the teacup.
Xia De did not feel any elemental traces throughout the process, which indicated that the other party's "divination" was merely what ordinary people called divination.
"So, what's the result?"
He asked, pretending to be curious.
"That lucky Noblewoman deserves to have a very large sum of money."
"That's good."
Xia De smiled, feeling a little pained about the 2 shillings he had spent on the divination.
"By the way, I also did a divination for you."
Mr. Stan added.
"For me?"
Xia De said, observing the other person's expression, but it seemed Mr. Stan hadn't discovered anything strange.
He now had the dice of destiny in his pocket. He never touched this item at home but always carried it when he went out. Even if the other party used Ring術士 abilities to divine, they would most likely see incorrect results, let alone a divination done by ordinary means.
"What did you 'see'?"
"The term 'see' isn't quite accurate; it should be 'feel.' Divination is a difficult process to describe, and for you, Mr. Hamilton, it's very strange, but from the mists of the future, I actually saw you become a knight with a sword."
"Knight?"
Xia De felt bewildered. The identity of a "knight" had almost completely disappeared in the Steam Age. In earlier eras of the sixth epoch, knights belonged to the lowest tier of the aristocracy, usually possessing only a small fiefdom, such as a manor. They were professional soldiers who fought for the lord or king they served.
However, with the introduction of firearms into the military, the knight's combat methods gradually declined, leading to the disappearance of the entire class. With the changing times, even the hereditary title of "knight" became scarce. Based on Xia De's common knowledge, there were no more than 20 nobles with the title of "knight" currently existing in Delarion. Compared to the country's vast population and aristocratic system, this number was almost negligible.
Instead, the "Delarion Iris Knight Medal," "Delarion Golden Sash Knight Medal," and "Delarion Honorary Knight Medal," derived from the knight title, were more well-known as extremely high national honors. These medals were usually only awarded to nobles who had made special contributions to the kingdom or royalty, and rarely to commoners.
Therefore, Xia De could not possibly become a so-called "knight" in this era, no matter what.